Tuesday 30 August 2016

A Sweet Treat | Mini Vanilla Bites

A Sweet Treat | Mini Vanilla Bites



Hey, hope all is well,

Image of my Mini Vanilla Bites
A few days ago I made some cakes, which I call my 'mini vanilla bites' and I thought it to be a good idea to share it for all to see. I will be posting images and some quick short instructions to make it as simple as possible, as even though these cakes took me around two to three hours due to complications with the cake as I initially intended these to be cake pops, however the cakes tore in the silicon mold and wouldn't stay put with the sticks, I decided to turn them into my own creation being my mini vanilla bites. 

Ingredients and equipment:

To start, as I did but with the intention that the cakes would become cake pops, you will need a cake pop mould in order to achieve the small round shape of the cakes, one which I recieved as a gift years ago and decided it was time to use it. 
     Secondly you will need to have a cake recipe to follow. I have cake recipe cards which are perfect, but you can find multiple cake recipes in books or online, such as on the BBC Good Food website which I often go to for recipes which I then modify to my desired needs. The cake recipe mustn't be anything too difficult, as you will need to make sure they mold to the cake pop mold, so I went for a simple vanilla fairy cake recipe which doesn't require too many ingredients and so is cheaper to make. This recipe makes 20 mini cakes, however because I was experimenting, I ended up with a two extra cakes, so be sure to scale up or down to the right number. Unfortunately, I don't have to amount for the icing as I experimented with the portions as all recipes were too much for the small cakes, but roughly only 100g because the cakes are so small.

To conclude, you will need:
Cake pop mold or small cake tin
Large mixing bowl
Spoon
Sieve
2 Egg
150g butter/margarine for the cake
150g self raising flour
150g Caster sugar (be sure to use this instead of granulated sugar, as when granulated sugar heats, it clumps together and makes the texture of the cake gritty due to its larger size compared to caster sugar which is finer)
1 1/2 cap (the lid from the vanilla extract bottle) of vanilla extract
Butter/margarine for the icing
Decorations, such as 100's and 1000's and icing pens like I used.

Method:
1) Firstly preheat the oven to 180 degrees-for the vanilla fairy cake recipe I have given above- and make the cake mix, add butter/margarine, caster sugar and beat in the bowl until smooth. Beat the egg/s in a bow/jug until bubbles of air are on the surface-this lets you know air has been beaten into the egg so it will help the cake rise properly into the molds.

2) Using the sieve to avoid lumps of flour in the cake when it's finished, sieve the flour and add the egg and mix until smooth without lumps. Add vanilla extract, bearing in mind to stick to the recipe as too little vanilla extract wont be able to hide the eggy taste of the cake, and too much will make it overpowering and sharp on your throat when you eat the cake.

3) Greece the cake mold/tin with butter/margarine and spoon the cake mixture into each mould making sure to fill it level with the top of the individual cake moulds. If using a cake pop mold like I did, connect the base with the cake mixture to the top mold carefully, and then place on to a tray before putting into the oven as the silicon mold will bend and spill the cake mixture without a tray to support it. Now be sure to only open the oven when you're sure the cake is near or is finished, as this will allow the heat to escape which will effect the cakes' ability to rise like it should into the molds, and may result in flat, deflated cakes. Just follow the instructions and all should be fine. 

4) Whilst the cakes are cooking, make the icing. For mine I used buttercream icing which I would recommend as it's thicker and wont run off the round sides of the cakes like normal icing which concisest of water and icing sugar. Add the better/margarine and sieve the icing sugar to make the icing lump-free. Mix until smooth and creamy, and ensure that the icing does indeed taste like a mix of both icing sugar, with a hint of butter flavour. Icing that tastes solely of butter needs more icing sugar to ensure it's sweet, creamy taste. 

5)Once the cakes are cooked, remove from the oven. After leaving to cool for a while, carefully remove the top cake mold and check the cakes are risen properly by pressing the cakes gently in the middle, if they spring back after pressing them down, they're cooked and risen properly. 
Carefully remove the cake bites from the molds and leave to cool o a wire rack. Once cooled decorate the cakes with icing and decorations, such as 100's and 1000's like I did. To note: be sure the cakes are completely cool as any heat will melt the icing and this will make it run off the cake. 
Leave the cakes on a plate and place in the fridge to ensure the icing sets. Once set, take out and enjoy :)   

I ca,e about this idea of my own, my Mini Vanilla Bites, as i initially intended to create cake pops, which failed massively, so I turned it into a new recipe of my own and they looked cute and tasted delicious, I shall have to make them again. 

Hope this was helpful and thank you for reading,
    
Yours truly,
Caris








Monday 15 August 2016

Summer Photo Picks | My Favourite Pictures Of My Holiday, 2016

Summer Photo Picks | My Favourite Pictures Of My Holiday, 2016



Hey, hope all is well,

 Mountains, Carmarthenshire, South Wales. This image isn't
edited at all, everything you see, all the natural colours;
are untouched, and only captured by me on my camera.
Now I have just been on holiday, and anyone who knows me and my blog, will know that if there's anything I like to do more on holiday; is to take pictures to catelogue my experiences. I have gathered together all the pictures I love the most, in order to share them and to highlight the beauty of the South of Wales where I spent my week on holiday with my family. This year, I am going to create a mini album one could call it, of all the pictures, putting a twist to my usual blogging where I end up writing and writing until about five pages later I only just finish, with the thought that a small collage of photos might be nice to share on my blog with all of you.
Llanelli beach
However, before you have a look at the natural beauty of South Wales, I'll first give you some context on my holiday. I went on holiday Saturday the 30th with my family off to South Wales to a small cottage in the middle of the hills and forest in a small village called Gwynfe, based in the county of Carmarthenshire, which was one of the two county's that wales consisted of. 
Dryslwyn Castle, a 13th century castle.
     The journey took approximately three hours, followed by pacing up the small, steep and narrow roads and over the mountains that I swear look like mount Everest's cousins. The further we went, the higher we got into the mountains, until thirty minutes later we reached the cottage, named 'Forest View Cottage'. 

Dryswlyn Castle
Now the cottage was an average size, painted white and with all rooms on ground level, and being so high up in the mountains, the cottage was cold, with its stone structure. Of course, as you may have guessed, there was no wi-fi, no phone signal- unless you drove twenty minutes to Pen Arthur Wood- and not even a telephone inside the cottage, with the owner of the cottage living next door, I guess they didn't see any reason to have one.To sum up, the area was pretty excluded or even 'remote' as some might say. 
The beginning of the National Show Caves
     Throughout the week, we spent some time travelling to different places, going along a mountain route that winds round the mountains and past the sheep who occupy it. The view was amazing, and you'll soon see why :) In summary, we visited Dryswyn Castle, a 13th century castle now with its remains standing high above the
ground, Llanelli and it's beach and it's national nature reservation grounds with a cycle route that a enjoyed so much, we spent two hours cycling around and even came face to face with swans that didn't seem too happy to see our bicycles because their juvenile babies were around, so they started trying to attack the wheels, and may I add; swans aren't the
most friendliest of birds I can think of. We also visited The National Show Caves which were amazing and had an intriguing history to them of bones found in one of the three caves called the 'Bone Cave' that were from around the iron age or older, with the main cave
being the first to be discovered by the Morgan Brothers in 1912 who had finished
Waterfalls in the National Show Caves
their farm work for the day and decided to finally explore the caves, mapping out every detail of it. We also went to Swansea for a bit of shopping, because I really needed some new shoes that preferably weren't broken like my other ones; and finally Pen Arthur Wood, a small woodland walk just twenty minutes down the road, and down the mountains, from Gwynfe.



So here are all the top pictures from my summer holiday, 2016. I could only choose a few because they were all amazing and I just couldn't fit them all onto this blog post. Scroll down the page to view the rest of images, click to enlarge them. All images are taken by me, Caris and my property :) 
National Show Caves







Waterfalls in the National Show Caves











The National Show Caves






This stalagmite was named 'The Angel'
by the Morgan brothers for its tall human-like structure
and long wings which can be seen to the back of
the stalagmite's structure. The Morgan brothers
 first ventured into the caves after finishing
their farm work early in 1912 and they mapped out
the caves as they went. one hundred and four years later,
they're open to the public with their rich history
and interesting past of the 'Bone Cave' which has remains
dating back to before the Iron age. 










































I hope these pictures were worth a look, I think they are it it goes to show the real, untouched natural beauty of South Wales.

Thank you for reading,

Yours truly,
Caris